Cards shut down Florida SouthWestern State in second half for first win

TWIN FALLS — After its first weekend of games at the College of Southern Idaho, second-year North Idaho College coach Nathan Covill talked to his team about defense.

They worked on it during practices, then again at shootaround before Thursday's game against Florida SouthWestern State College of Fort Myers, Fla.

Then, the Cardinals executed it in the second half, beating the Buccaneers 65-48 at the College of Southern Idaho.

"We'd spent a lot of time talking about defense, and what they needed to do," said Covill, whose team limited Florida SouthWestern State to 13 second-half points. "We were pleased with how they responded to what we were talking about. It was fun to watch and see them be the best team they could be."

Kendall Pickford, a redshirt freshman from Lake City High, scored 23 points, hitting 8 of 11 from the 3-point line for NIC.

"We had some great individual efforts, and Kendall shooting the ball from the 3-point line didn't hurt," Covill said. "We were missing a forward and she had to play the four for us. But she's so good and can play multiple positions."

Freshman Maddie Williamson had 10 points and 10 rebounds for NIC.

"She's going to be an X-factor for us," Covill said. "As a guard, she's always on the glass and I'm happy she got a chance to show what she can do."

NIC (1-2) faces the College of Southern Idaho in a nonconference game today. The Golden Eagles beat the Cardinals 75-53 last Friday. NIC rejoins CSI in the Scenic West Athletic Conference this season for the first time since 2015.

"We played really hard against them last week," Covill said. "We'll need to get dialed in and watch the film and get to where we need to be."

Makenna Shaffer scored 16 points for Florida SouthWestern State (1-2).

FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN STATE

Roksana Sajdak 1-7 1-2 4, Lisa Le Roy 4-6 2-4 11, Sara Owona 3-7 0-0 6, Makenna Shaffer 4-11 7-10 16, Georgi Buzzetti 1-4 3-6 5, Federica Lagana 2-6 0-0 4, Addison Potts 1-5 0-0 2, Ekaterina Shehepotkina 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Lester 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 16-50 13-22 48.

NORTH IDAHO

Deniece Ryan 3-9 0-0 6, Maddie Williamson 4-14 2-3 10, Addie Kiefer 4-6 2-4 11, Faye Davis 0-3 0-0 0, Kendall Pickford 9-13 0-0 26, Anna Serrett 0-0 0-0 0, Kalysta Troman 1-6 1-2 4, Diana Morales 1-4 1-2 3, Iratxe Amorrotu 2-5 0-2 5. Totals 24-60 6-13 65.

Florida SW State    20    15    9    4    —    48

North Idaho        23    17    12    13    —    65

3-point goals — FSWS 3-15 (Sajdak 1-3, Le Roy 1-2, Owona 0-1, Shaffer 1-3, Potts 0-4, Sheshepotkina 0-1, Lester 0-1), NIC 11-26 (Ryan 0-3, Williamson 0-3, Kiefer 1-1, Pickford 8-11, Troman 1-4, Morales 0-1, Amorrotu 1-3). Rebounds — FSWS 42 (Buzzetti 8), NIC 33 (Williamson 10). Assists — FSWS 6 (Le Roy, Owona, Lagana 2), NIC 17 (Ryan 5). Team fouls — FSWS 14, NIC 14. Fouled out — none.

To view the full article, please visit the CDA Press at this link.